Today we have cake and ice cream for Dco-worker, Jun. I love birthdays because I can be a hoglet and eat cake without guilt. I love that BossLady called to ask me what kind. Uh, chocolate with chocolate icing and pour chocolate across the top! She said, "What about this fudge cake." Oh yeah, now we're talking. Thank you Jun for having a birthday. Jun had her 2nd baby (baby is around 14 now) with the same midwives as I had mine. I guess we're bonded in a midwifery kind of way.

Wanna see my idea of heaven? Could you just not die for that? DH says that if I want it, he will build it. I guess I'll be looking into ways of funding a shop all my own. This belongs to Heidi Wulfraat at London-Wul Fibre Arts

I just love that saying --- had to buy that metal piece at HL since it really is a good way to look at life. Sayings mean a lot to me and I try to live by them - I guess to curb my hateful nature.

Sarah, from work, lent me the new Pride and Prejudice movie. She loves it and I look forward to the home viewing. Maybe this weekend.

I did finish a really good audiobook yesterday: Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende. That forced me to stop by the library and pick up three more. This time I entered into the autobiographical area. I have a deep affection for these type books ever since my senior year in high school. My wonderful English teacher assigned us certain type of book that we had to read and give a 4-minute dissertation about. At that point in my life, I had never picked up an autobiography, nor did I own one. I had to borrow a book from my Aunt Becky and it was about Mario Lanza, the opera singer. I enjoyed it immensely and since then I have read many which, caused my adoration of Lauren Becall and Lucille Ball, to name a few. I like infiltrating these type books into my reading list. It keeps me balanced.

I have about a half inch completed on glove #2. Not much since I've been scouting thrift stores at lunch. I've hit all the usual suspects so may have to do a switchboard search and see where others are located. Never know, I may find a wonderful treasure. Yesterday was a dud at lunch but since DBoss sent me home 20 minutes early, I stopped by GW on the way to the house. I found some goodies there - a 3-size springform pan set, some blank notecards with my surname initial, a suction mirror for DH and a small bag of yarn. Yeah, found me some more yarn but for 2.99 - it just had to be mine. Too bad I haven't found those elusive knitting books I've got a hankering for.

I didn't get a chance to organize projects. DH and I worked on a budget (work) project last night and that ate up most of my night. I did watch the daily taped Knitty Gritty but then decided upon a good night's sleep. I'll get to it and get back on track.

The only news in knitting/crocheting: I finished the first fingerless glove and have yet to cast on for #2. That should happen today. I also restarted the pink scarf for DD that I started a while back. It is a quick knit and I was looking for something ease to piddle with. The weekend was so jam packed that I needed to do something with my hands that required little concentration. I'm feeling a little fuzzy on the projects so I need to re-establish the plan of attack on what comes next. I need to spend some alone time in the home office and get that set up.

I am on the ribbing finale of the sock yarn, fingerless gloves. I had a little bit of a stall since I didn't like the way the pattern worked the thumb gusset. That put me into a snit and I had to work out what I wanted to do. I never leave well enough alone. I love the yarn and I'm loving the *almost* finished project but when I look at it I see socks. I know that non-knitters won't think I'm walking around with socks on my hands but to me, that is what I will see. I wonder if these have ever been called Hobo Gloves?

I am still plugging away at the home office. Little touches here and there are making me feel much better. Over the weekend I knocked out two more pair of jeans needing repair. It seems the stack of repair never dwindles. I plan on setting aside a morning for getting them out of the office. I also need to go through the entire collection of yarn and fabric in hopes of getting all the fabric into the bins. I have a large wicker basket full of fabric that is in my way. That would be a huge effort so it has waited. Now that the rest is coming together, I may find the incentive to work on that.

I guess that is all for now. I have big plans for the weekend and work is super stressful - more on my plate than I feel I can eat. This too shall pass.

This made me stop and think about all the stashes I have amassed: yarn; fabric; thread; rick rack; bias tape; zippers; ribbon; batting; cross stitch; needle punch; patterns; beads; and books - reading, crochet, knitting, gardening, cross stitch (to name a few). That is just what is currently in my field of vision. I cannot, I repeat cannot, pass up someone's stash in a garage sale. They'll have a $2 box full of all kinds of goodies they cleared out of their sewing room. Digging through the box gives me $40 worth of pleasure and then I get the fun of putting it with "like" things. The zippers rest inside a Crown Royal bag - all snug together, just waiting to be made into something that is loved. I need to be committed ton an infirmary with this thought but I'll share it anyway. When I pulled out the obviously, previously used zipper I knew it was getting all happy that it would now be out of the bag and into the light, being loved and hugged. I also knew that the other zippers were jealous and this one was saying to the others, "Yay! She picked me. Sorry guys, I'm outta here." If you're gonna have me locked up, please grab DC Ruthie and put her in the ward with me. She has confessed to me that she thinks the same thoughts. Do you creative ones go through the same dialogue?

I picked up quite a few cute things at a thrift store on Friday. Although blue tag clothing was 50% off, a lot of their sweaters were marked 1/2 off also. I found three sweaters - 2 cardigans (one wool fair isle and one cotton stripe) and a pullover. One of the girls at work had forgotten (no, I don't know how) her coat so I took them into the office and let her choose which one she wanted to borrow. I love showing off my bargains and she was all jealous just like the zippers. She tried on both the cardigans and went home with the cotton one. She had worn a short-sleeved top and ended up wearing the cardigan for the rest of the day. It was a nice feeling to keep someone warm and it only cost me $1.32. Not only did I get the three sweaters, I picked up this bunny tray. Isn't it the cutest? It had a TJ Maxx tag on the bottom (my fav store for housewares) and I paid $4.94. I almost didn't buy it because I didn't want to pay almost $5 for it but I'm really glad I decided to bring it home. Even DH oohed and aahed over it for me. I like it and hey, I'm worth $5. After the thrift store, I headed to HCW and got me some yarn squeezes. I had to pick up some #1 DPNs since the paint is flicking off the cheap aluminums I have. They're just not holding up like I expected and I use this size more than I realized. I have a red set and a blue set - both the cheap aluminum. I picked up Inox since that is all that HCW carries in DPN. I would've preferred something a little better quality but that is what they had. For less than $4, I'm okay with it.

Sad news. I got a call around 10:30 a.m. on Friday. DB Donnie called to say he had to put down his dog. He's had Roxi for 11 years and she blew out both her back knees the night before. They may have been able to fix them after $5K and months of rehab. At age 11, he didn't think it'd be fair to Roxi. What a decision! A completely healthy dog with a pair of bad knees...that really sux. He was totally heartbroken but working through it. Please keep him in your thoughts and may Roxi meet up with DB Chad for some fun. Like DSeester told me last night, DB Don had time on earth with Roxi and now DB Chad is playing with her in heaven. I like it!

I cleaned up the office! It is not 100% like I want but it looks a lot better. There is more floor room (=space) now that I moved some things off the floor. I had a couple stacks of frames that I wanted to think. These went into the closet in GB's room. I need to get all the frames together and either use or find them a home. I have one or two boxes of frames in the garage that I can't seem to part with. Back to the office - I have all the completed projects printed and put into the albums and the albums are now on the shelves and off the floor. I'm hoping that since I've made a sizable dent in the cleaning that I can get in there and actually notice the areas that need some attention. Seeing it every day makes me blind to a lot of it. Maybe DSeester can give it a once over and point out visual problem areas.

I guess that is enough gabbing for now. I knocked out a scarf last night but since I'm outta room for pictures, I'll have to share tomorrow. Gosh, I'm gonna miss the olympics now that they're over.

Speaking of bargains - pictures 2 and 3 show you the bargain I picked up from a thrift store on my way home from getting my hair did. DD & I stopped by there to see if there was anything we just had to have. She says, "I bet you found the only skein of yarn in the store." Well, no, as a matter of fact I passed up 4 others that I didn't care for. It is a soft yarn that should make a great gift scarf. Once I got home, I peeked under the label and do you see what I see? A $6+ ball of yarn that I got for 99 cents. How could you pass up that offer? Good thing I've already thrown myself outta the club of non-buyers.

Yeah, the hair looks good. I needed a major chop since my hair grows at a tremendous speed. I was there in December and it was cut to a little below my shoulders to allow for the natural curl. It was already to the middle of my back when I got there yesterday. Hal just giggles about me and the speediness of hair growth. Whatever, wave that magic wand and make me beautiful.

I finished Afghan #2 yesterday -- once I finish writing the pattern, I can submit it to the Lion Brand Afghan Contest. I will pull out 1 or 2 rows of the work I did last night - although I did the same amount of rows on one end as the other, something wonky happened and I don't want to worry about it if it gets a casting call. Now that I've got this one finished I can work on the sock and then I want to start on the entrelac backpack that has been marinating for a while. I am an entrelac virgin so I am looking forward to getting my mind around it. I've never even read an entrelac pattern so all I've done is *imagine* what you do to make those cool effects with yarn. I've got a goal --- maybe I can knock out that sock this weekend and get the bag started.